Monday, October 8, 2012

Copycat Hotel Waffles

Last weekend was my cousin's wedding. It was quite a splendoriferous occasion, held in the far northern lands of Michigan.

The weather was perfect too. I mean, Piggie and Nemo thought it was really cold that night, but I didn't mind. I don't know what's come over me. I'm normally the one who survives winter by darting between the hot tub and the fireplace and praying the global warming will hurry up already. I guess that super hot summer melted all my brains away or something.

The reception was in a barn, which was really cool. Cool as in awesome, not cool as in cold. Boots is in the background there. Not really sure what he's doing. Probably something destructive.

One of the best parts (other than seeing my favoritest cousin get married to the girl of his dreams... *sniff, sniff*) was the scenic drive there and back.

The other best part was the waffles. You know, the make-your-own waffles that are the big fad at all the hotel breakfast buffets. I'm kind of sad because they don't have any gluten-free ones. Pretty much my only choices at these types of affairs is a mushy apple or dry cornflakes. So guess what, I made my own gluten-free ones. And the truth is, half of the gluten-eaters actually try to steal our rice flour waffles because they're just so. dang. crispy.

But really, the regular ones are great too. The reason I decided to try making them at home was because Tay will not eat any of the waffles I make, which offends me most greatly. Every time we go to a hotel he's like, "Yammie, please figure out how to make these waffles!"

So finally this time I was like, "Okay, hand 'em over so I can inspect them."

So after a few minutes of tearing and squishing and sniffing them, I was like, "Okay. I can do this, man."

That night when we got home, guess what was for dinner?

In case you've never had the pleasure of eating your own hotel waffles, they're very soft, moist, and airy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Imagine chewy strands of waffle separated by big air bubbles and all surrounded in a crispy exterior. I promise it's not as weird as you're imagining. Just try them and you'll understand.

Preheat your waffle iron to high heat. The hotter the better. That makes the outside crispy and the inside moist.
Beat together the eggs, oil, milk, vanilla, and sugar. Mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder and whisk into the wet ingredients. I know you normally shouldn't overmix waffles, but I whisk these until smooth. I think it makes them more chewy. Cook them according to your waffle iron's instructions.